Cummins, Dongfeng to Develop Heavy-Duty Diesel Platform in China

Posted on October 15, 2005

Dongfeng Cummins Engine Co. (DCEC), a 50-50 joint venture of Cummins Inc. and Dongfeng Motor Co., has begun development of a 13-liter heavy-duty truck engine designed to serve the high-end of the truck market in China, Cummins has announced.

The fully electronic engine, which is expected to be ready for production in 2009, will feature a power range from 400 to 545 hp and is designed to be used in heavy-duty trucks above 40 tons gross weight.

Cummins said the development agreement is a further expansion of nearly 20 year relationship with Dongfeng and also marks a departure from the traditional joint venture model in China. Typically, Chinese joint venture partners have imported existing product technology from their international partners and used that technology as the basis for manufacturing products to meet the China market.

This is the first time that a Cummins heavy-duty engine platform has been developed outside the United States. Likewise, it is the first time that Dongfeng has worked with an international partner to design a new engine platform. Initial development work on the engine platform has started at the Cummins Technical Center in Columbus, Ind. Development will be shared with the Cummins East Asia Research and DevelopmentCenter in Wuhan, China, when the center opens in the third quarter of 2006. The Cummins East Asia center is a joint venture between Cummins and DCEC.

Cummins does not currently have a product in this displacement range. The engine platform also is being designed so that it can be readily modified to meet future U.S. EPA and Euro IV/V emission standards.